Since there has been interest expressed in this and I have quite a few photos courtesy from Ron Lathrop and Jerry Melton (so far), I have decided to start a photo gallery for cars that ran in the SCCA A/Sedan, A/Production and B/Production classes. You might even see some Chevy-powered sports racing cars in here. There were far fewer Trans-Am races run each year than these types of races so there are more of these kinds of photos out there.

1969 Waterford Hills: Bill Petree's white '69 Camaro behind the two early Mustangs. Then we see the Challenger III Falcon (which can alsobe seen in the '69 Wolverine Trans-Am thread under the RAM Regional event) with a couple of early Camaros and others in hot pursuit.Photo by Jerry Melton

1969 Waterford Hills: Bob McClure's big block Corvette gets off-course. Bob was one of Don Yenko's best friends. I see a Camaro in the background too.Photo by Jerry Melton

1969 Waterford Hills Driving School: This is the famed "Purple People Eater III" Corvette prepared by Nickey Chevrolet and Ronnie Kaplanfor Jim Jeffords to drive. It dominated every race it ran back in '59 when it was new but this is 10 years after its prime.Photo by Jerry Melton

1969 Waterford Hills Driving School: Another shot of the same car.Photo by Jerry Melton

1) Sears Point Enduro Regional, November '76 or '77 (I need to look that up). Bill Maier/Mustang, John Treder/Camaro, Mike Nagle/Camaro smoking from caving in the LR fender with the T11 tyre wall. Nagle had issue with brain fade. Maier went on to break. We won.2) T9 at Laguna. Lew Larimer passing Don Rettig / Camaro. Originally built by Paul Traver, sold to Rettig, through my hands, to Ron Tredway. Current whereabouts unknown.

Cheers, Steve

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The roll hoop in the Camaro looked as it was taken out of the "How to build a Trans-Am Mustang book". Two sets of rear diagonals, one in typical placement from the upper 'corners' to the rear of the chassis. The other set from about midway up the main hoop, down to the rear subframe kick-up. Rumored to be a weak spot on a Mustang, realy not needed in a Camaro. It was,also, the largest diametre main hoop ever seen! I had the Green Beast from about 1982 until Ron bought it. I was partially incorrect, Traver bought the car with some/most of the main cage in it. He just finished it.

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One thing interesting about SCCA B/P 1965 The Shelby GT 350's were very quick beating the Corvettes that owned B/P for many yearsMark Donohue in a blue GT 350 won the SCCA B-Production Championship in 1965

yes sorry , I remember Mark beat Don Yenko but was the Divisional SCCA Championship B/P 1965 not the National

The race is on youtube but not very clear and it is labed 1964 but I believe its 1965From what I can find ...........Don Yenko ran his special built 1957 Corvette B/P car (white/blue stripe). He was the 1962-63 B/P National Champion so the 1965 Shelby 350 GT was his archenemy.

There were 16 cars in the 1965 B/P Runoff but they ran same race with the A/P cars 10 Shelby GT350s, 3 Sunbeam Tigers, 2 Jags, and one Corvette (Don Yenko's 1957 Fuelie)

Don Yenko finished 3rd in B/P with failing brakes (amazing run)

Mark Donahue, in the dark color GT 350 qualified 2nd overall. Out qualified all but 1 Cobra (A/P) then had blown head gasket slow him and then a flat tire. (Mark had an amazing qualifing run)

Jerry Titus won the B/P race in a GT350 and the Championship

The SCCA B/P and A/P battles seemed to carry over to Trans Am 1967here is the race

UPDATE (courtesy of Craig Wheeldon): "That Stinger looks to be VIN 101375W291539, Yenko Stinger # YS121 driven by John Dirnbauer. The car was originally owned by Tony DeLorenzo , who drove it in Trans Am and A Sedan races while he owned it in 1965 - 66, then it was converted to a stage III Stinger in 1967. The current owner is Dave Edsinger. This infocame from Charlie Doerge's new book "Don Yenko and the Yenko Stinger".

Waterford Hills 1969, A B/Production Corvette being chased by what appears to be a '67 Z-28. The paint scheme of the Camaro is verysimilar to the '69 Bill Petree Camaro, which I believe was prepared by John and Burt Greenwood.Photo by Jerry Melton

I don't know much about Yenko Stingers, but during that era the Bill O'Connor usually was the fastest D/Production car at Central Division events. I don't remember the colors for sure, maybe blue and silver, or blue and white.

"Photo is from a July 1968 Riverside SCCA enduro/championship race sent to me from the brother in-law (Neil Young) of a crew member on the #4 Don Peck Mustang. Don was half brother to actor Gregory Peck who would on occasion attend the races with Don back in the day. Should give Neil photo credit as he took it."

Thanks for posting that, Chad. It should also be noted that the white Camaro is the one driven by Tom Lynch.This is the "sister car" to the one driven by Dick Guldstrand. Both Dick and Tom's cars were built by Bobby JoeMcDonald at Dana Chevrolet and both ran with Dana sponsorship at the '67 Sebring Trans-Am. Mike Haemmigowns the Tom Lynch car now and he is pretty close to having the car ready to race in Historic Trans-Am events.

Waterford Hills Driving School, April '69. Jerry thinks this he remembers Warren Tope being the driver of this car at this event. Warren went on to be a very capable independent Mustang racer in the Trans-Am series.Photo by Jerry Melton

Unfortunately for the Challenger III (Falcon), it was not considered a production car or a sedan so they made it run as an A/Sports Racer. Hence it could wind up running against something like a big block McLaren or a Lola.

Waterford Hills 1971. This is the Pontiac Tempest driven by Bob Tullius in the 1971 Trans-Am series however it lookslike it might be Pontiac engineer Herb Adams doing the driving here at the Waterford track.

Robert, Maybe you're thinking of Tom Swindell and his wife Mary? They ran a white '62 which is currently owned by Franz Estereicher and a Stingray also. There are some photos of them in the Waterford Hills thread.

Waterford Hills 1972, Three Corvettes running in a pack.Photo by Jerry Melton

Waterford Hills 1972, The Mustang looks like it may be a car that ran in Trans-Am and the Javelin in the back may be ex-Penske. Photo by Jerry Melton

Waterford Hills 1972, A Stingray, a Lotus Super 7 and an early Mustang convertible. A Mustang with no roof or even a windshield justlooks strange to me. It obviously happened but I can't recall seeing another Mustang like this at the races back in the early '70s.Photo by Jerry Melton

A shot of Vanni's Camaro on the grid at Laguna Seca. The car has a '67 grille in it but it is a '68.Dave Doyal Collection

Vanni's Camaro was the A/Sedan champion in the San Francisco region in 1975.Dave Doyal Collection

Here's the engine in Vanni's Camaro in the 1974 timeframe.Dave Doyal Collection

Another look at the engine. Lots of interesting details like the alternator mounted up high using the smog pumpbracketry and also a non-deep groove smog pump pulley on the alternator with hand drilled holes in it.Dave Doyal Collection

Vanni's Camaro was the A/Sedan champion in the San Francisco region in 1975.Dave Doyal Collection

And another addition from Mike Meek:

"If you look at the last shot of Neil's Camaro, you can see the back of my Corvette in the background. If I could restore that car today I think I would leave the rainbow off. I had a lot of fun racing with Neil back then."

Neil Vanni has continued on racing, and his most recent efforts have been in Honda Civics. Neil has run his Hondas in the SPEED World Challenge, and in NASA Honda Challenge. My brother raced with him for a few of those last years in Honda Challenge. Neil is always a friendly face at the track, and his cars are well turned out and fast.

Below are some Jerry Melton photos taken at an 1969 SCCA National race at Michigan Int'l Speedway. Both TonyDeLorenzo and Jerry Thompson went on to race Owens-Corning sponsored Camaros in Trans-Am the following year.

"If you look at the last shot of Neil's Camaro, you can see the back of my Corvette in the background. If I could restore that car today I think I would leave the rainbow off. I had a lot of fun racing with Neil back then."

What's Mike up to these days? I met Mike when I started crewing for John Treder & haven't seen him since we really got out of racing.............back when Jeff James offed his ex--Oji /ex-IROC Camaro to Mark Ruden!!

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Just a note on the Jerry Thompson & Tony D Corvettes... Jerry was in B/P at that time. If I recall correctly, Tony led most of the Runoffs @ Riverside in A/P later , but was passed on the last lap by a 427 Cobra. I think Jerry was 6th in B/P

John Greenwood's Corvette, which actually ran in Trans-Am in 1973 due to the new rules which were more in linewith the IMSA series, which had become more popular as the Trans-Am series lost the factory supported teams.Photo by Jerry Melton

Warren Agor ran a 454 in his 2nd-gen Trans-Am car in 1974 because the 5-liter (305 cubic inch) displacement limit was eliminated starting in 1973. When theCorvettes and Porsches were allowed in Trans-Am in '73, wheels went to 10" wide and the displacement went way up, that spelled the end of a great race series.Ken Ulrich photo

2nd-gen Camaro of Paul and Kenper Miller ran a 460 cubic inch big block in the 1974 Trans-Am series. This car is the Todco-built Camaroraced by Dick Brown in the Trans-Am series in '71 and '72. (Now owned by Kerry Hoctor)Ken Ulrich photo

As promised, here are a few pics of my brother's 69 A sedan car. It was built in the early 70s by Dick Fisher of Wisconsin. I believe it ran its first AS race in 72, Central Division. He won Cen-Div in this car in 1976. This car is also registered with the Historic TA group. TA-025, if I recall. This car will be for sale in the coming months.

Another angle....this car has a real 302, though not originally a Z/28. He also has a genuine GM crossram that hasn't been installed yet. Car is race-ready, just needs some minor tweaks to be "at its best" visually (paint chips, etc). This car has been raced with Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing for the last 15+ years, one of the most 'vintage correct' organizations out there.

As promised, here are a few pics of my brother's 69 A sedan car. It was built in the early 70s by Dick Fisher of Wisconsin. I believe it ran its first AS race in 72, Central Division. He won Cen-Div in this car in 1976. This car is also registered with the Historic TA group. TA-025, if I recall. This car will be for sale in the coming months.

klvn8r

Just curious... Who drove this car in the Central Division in the 1970's? What was won in the Cen-Div in 1976?

The car is painted "as raced" in '72-76... Dick Fischer built/owned/drove... It won Cen-Div Championship in '76. Was usually #18 or 81. Was listed for sale in Autoweek after championship.... without the logbook in front of me, other owners were ( probably out of order) Dr. Norm Hoeffleur (sp?) O.M. Malsbree, Dan Beatty, who brought it to Texas, painted it red w/ white stripes #70 I may be forgetting one, too.... Ken

The car is painted "as raced" in '72-76... Dick Fischer built/owned/drove... It won Cen-Div Championship in '76. Was usually #18 or 81. Was listed for sale in Autoweek after championship.... without the logbook in front of me, other owners were ( probably out of order) Dr. Norm Hoeffleur (sp?) O.M. Malsbree, Dan Beatty, who brought it to Texas, painted it red w/ white stripes #70 I may be forgetting one, too.... Ken

Did it win the Cen-Div Regional points championship in 76?

My father won the Cen Div AS National points Championship in 1976 in his 1969 Camaro...

He raced his 1969 Camaro in the Central Division from 1974 thru 1984. His won the Central Division AS (and later GT1) points Championship in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980. He finished 2nd in Central Division Nationl points in 1975, 1978 and 1981. He finished 3rd in Central Division National points in 1974, 1983 and 1984, and finished 4th in 1982.

He won the Runoffs in 1980, finished 3rd in 1981, finished 4th in 1977. He competed in the runoffs in the Camaro from '74 thru '84 (except '82).

I'm away from all my materials, but the "photocopy" of the front of the trophy that Dick Fischer sent me reads something like " 1976 Central Division A-Sedan Champion" with drawings and names of the tracks... I don't think Mr. Fischer ventured to any "national" races. The ad in Autoweek with the checkered flag photo reads basically the same thing... I'm sure it was a "points total" regional Championship. Ken

I'm away from all my materials, but the "photocopy" of the front of the trophy that Dick Fischer sent me reads something like " 1976 Central Division A-Sedan Champion" with drawings and names of the tracks... I don't think Mr. Fischer ventured to any "national" races. The ad in Autoweek with the checkered flag photo reads basically the same thing... I'm sure it was a "points total" regional Championship. Ken

I remember Dick and the car... He must have won the Cen Div regional points Championship in 1976 - it wouldn't suprise me at all, as he was very quick. It's a beautiful car!

Hi guys! Our 69 was raced by Geoff Knight, started out autocrossing in the late 60's then road raced with Cal Club (Southern California) & SCCA, it ran in a few Trans-Am races in the 78/79 seasons. It ran the last TA race held at Riverside Raceway just before it closed.David

Both John Silva's '68 Camaro and Hugh Harn's '67 Camaro seen in the photo below, ran in the 1970 Laguna SecaTrans-Am. Here they are competing as A/Sedans in an SCCA National event on 6-20-71, which Silva won.

Warren is the taller man standing to the left of the car with Arnie Fick to his left and engine builder Read Sinclair in the lighter shirt. Sid Rust's Camaro can be seen just above the roof stripe of Warren's car.

in the photo of the fairbanks camaro at the june sprints you point out sid rusts camaro in the background. I read somewhere that the rust car was thought to be an ex chaparral camaro, is there any truth to that. also read somewhere else that greg pickett ran a x chaparral camaro in 1975. any one have any photos. I believe rust ran the car at the runoffs 73-75. jon, maybe this needs a separate thread on the chaparral camaros and their history ?

At this race Warren was the fastest A Sedan qualifier with Sid Rust 2nd fastest. In the race, Warren and Sid had a great battle until Warren's motor broke. It appeared it would be an easy win for Sid as he had a large lead in A Sedan. But everybody forgot about David Jungerman in the Baby Tenda Camaro (ex-Walter Parkins Camaro). David started dead last and charged though the field to catch Sid Rust and go on to win A Sedan.

At this race Warren was the fastest A Sedan qualifier with Sid Rust 2nd fastest. In the race, Warren and Sid had a great battle until Warren's motor broke. It appeared it would be an easy win for Sid as he had a large lead in A Sedan. But everybody forgot about David Jungerman in the Baby Tenda Camaro (ex-Walter Parkins Camaro). David started dead last and charged though the field to catch Sid Rust and go on to win A Sedan.

Sid's Camaro was indeed an ex-Chaparral Camaro. Prior to Sid, it was owned and raced in Trans Am by Marshall Robbins - maintained by Bill Spangler. After Sid, it was raced by Jim Kersey out of Ohio, then was raced by Bill Cooper out of California.

Sid and his wife Nancy were amongst our very best racing friends over all the years. As a youth, my very first beer and cigar were courtesy of Sid - at a small diner just outside Road Atlanta. I was likely 15 or 16 at the time! I have years worth of Sid and Nancy stories... Does anyone else know that Sid once raced a turbine powered Sprint car?

At this race Warren was the fastest A Sedan qualifier with Sid Rust 2nd fastest. In the race, Warren and Sid had a great battle until Warren's motor broke. It appeared it would be an easy win for Sid as he had a large lead in A Sedan. But everybody forgot about David Jungerman in the Baby Tenda Camaro (ex-Walter Parkins Camaro). David started dead last and charged though the field to catch Sid Rust and go on to win A Sedan.

I'd have to do some digging to remind myself the details of this race, but I do recall my father was running 2nd to Sid when retiring from the race with a flat left rear tire...

The car started life as a 1968 Corvette. Dave McLymont of Wheaton, IL started it's transformation into a race car. My father and I finished it's construction over the winter of 1972. We raced the car 10 times in 1973 in SCCA National Central Division races. We won 5 races, had 3 second place fiishes, 1 dnf and 1 dns. We finished 2nd overall and 2nd in B Production at the 1973 June Sprints to Bill Jobe, who was driving the ex-Alan Barker Corvette, and finished 2nd in the 1973 Central Division National points, to Mike Manner of Dearborn, MI. At the 1973 B Production runoffs, we qualified on the front row, 2nd to Bill Jobe, in the first qualifying session. We lost the motor in the second qualifying session and did not start the race.

The car was purchased at the end of the 1973 race season by Rusty and Max Schmidt. They raced the car in SCCA and IMSA events for the next decade or more. They still own the car to this day. It is Max who has the car listed for sale on Ebay... A lot of memories...

John Ryals built this '68 Camaro and raced it in Southern CA back in the 1972-1973 timeframe. He took it down to Mexico to race itat an event at the Autodromo Monterrey and somebody bought it from him on the spot. He didn't even get to run the race with it.John still works on old race cars and fabricates whatever someone might need. His shop is out in Santa Clarita, CA and he has a websiteat www.ryalsfab.com . John is wondering whatever became of his car. If anybody has some photos of it later on or knows what becameof it, try contacting him through his website. The indoor photos below were taken at a big car show in Los Angeles where John says hewon his tallest trophy! The "Winter Nationals Custom Car, Motorcycle, Drag Boat and Model Car Contest"